In my final year of primary school (though it may have been the year prior) our school sent a group of choristers to sing as part of a huge chorus for the Choral Concert at the Sydney Town Hall. As with most big sings, individual schools were responsible for auditioning and teaching the material long before the big night. We would then blend in with the many others gathered en masse before the stern conductor's rod.

I recall passing my audition, which simply involved copying notes from the piano and I remember the night too. Some of the songs we learnt still come to mind, such as Masters in this House, Sumer is icumen in and The Sounds of Silence, the latter a bold attempt, I think, to seem contemporary. In those days I was a boy soprano.

'Sumer is icumen' in is 13th century middle English song sung in canon that produces a rich series of harmonies. I think the version we sang was adapted to a more modern English, though it still still old fashioned at the time. In any event, summer has arrived and I will sing this song again.